Tag: centres

Dell Technologies unveils Concept Astro to optimise data centre efficiency

Dell Technologies has introduced Concept Astro, an innovation that uses AI, digital twins, and automation to optimise energy consumption and streamline data centre operations.

As artificial intelligence drives a new wave of digital transformation, growing energy demands have placed immense pressure on global data infrastructure. Increasing AI adoption continues to drive energy demands in the data centre, making the need for smarter, more sustainable solutions more urgent than ever.

To meet this need, Dell Technologies has introduced Concept Astro, an AI-driven workload management solution that utilises agentic AI, digital twins, and automation to optimise IT operations and energy consumption. Concept Astro enables enterprises to forecast processing times, predict energy requirements, and prioritise workloads based on business needs, energy availability, and cost without disrupting operations.

During a pilot collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, Concept Astro helped researchers optimise AI-intensive workload scheduling, leading to a 20% cost reduction and a 32% decrease in emissions. The successful trial highlights how AI-powered scheduling can deliver tangible sustainability and efficiency improvements for data centres.

Dell Technologies continues to invest in energy-efficient technologies that minimise operational costs while maximising business impact. By integrating AI-powered workload scheduling and improving infrastructure efficiency, enterprises can reduce energy consumption, enhance grid resilience, and drive sustainability across their operations.

Speaking about Concept Astro, Alyson Freeman, Innovation, Sustainability and ESG lead at Dell Technologies said: “Rising AI workloads are expected to drive higher data centre energy use, costs, and emissions. Some experts even predict data centre energy consumption could double by 2030, placing added strain on already burdened power grids. As a result, reliable, resilient and affordable energy has become a top priority for data centre operations worldwide. One of our latest explorations, Concept Astro, uses agentic AI, digital twins, and automation to spur smarter decision making to improve IT operations and energy consumption. This capability is exciting but right now just a concept, with our engineers pushing the boundaries of what is possible to deliver at scale.”

As Dell Technologies continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in energy-efficient AI technologies, the company is committed to supporting businesses in Ireland and globally to enhance grid resilience, reduce operational costs, and drive sustainable progress.

For further insights into Dell Technologies’ advancements in AI-driven energy efficiency and data center operations, read more here.

Park Place Announces New Liquid Cooling Solutions to Cut Costs and Carbon Emissions for Ireland Data Centres

Park Place Technologies, the world’s leading global data centre and networking optimisation firm, today announces the expansion of its portfolio of IT infrastructure services with the introduction of two Liquid Cooling solutions for data centres: Immersion Liquid Cooling and Direct-to-Chip Cooling.

This announcement comes at a critical time for businesses who are seeing a dramatic increase in the compute power they require, driven by adoption of technologies like AI and IoT. This in turn is driving the need for more on-prem hardware, more space for that hardware, and more energy to run it all – presenting a significant financial and environmental challenge for businesses. Park Place Technology’s new Liquid Cooling solutions present a strong solution for businesses looking to address these challenges as the technology has the potential to deliver strong financial and environmental results.

Direct-to-Chip is an advanced cooling method that applies coolant directly to the server components that generate the most heat including CPUs and GPUs. Immersion cooling empowers data centre operators to do more with less: less space and less energy. Using these methods, businesses can increase their Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) by up to 18 times, and rack density by up to 10 times. Ultimately, this can help deliver power savings of up to 50%, which in turn leads to lower operation costs.

From an environmental perspective, liquid cooling is significantly more efficient than traditional air cooling. At present, air cooling technology only captures 30% of the heat generated by the servers, compared to the 100% captured by immersion cooling, resulting in lower carbon emissions for businesses that opt for immersion cooling methods.

Park Place Technologies can deliver a complete, turn-key solution for organisations looking to implement Liquid Cooling technology, removing the complexity of adoption, which is a common barrier for businesses. Park Place Technologies provides a single-vendor solution for the whole process from procuring the hardware, conversion of the servers for liquid cooling, installation, maintenance, monitoring and management of the hardware and the cooling technology.

“Our new Liquid Cooling offerings have the potential to have a significant impact on our customers’ costs and carbon emissions, two of the key issues they face today,” said Chris Carreiro, Chief Technology Officer, at Park Place Technologies.  “Park Place Technologies is ideally positioned to help organisations cut their data centre operations costs, giving them the opportunity to re-invest in driving innovation across their businesses.

The decision to invest in Immersion Cooling and Direct-to-Chip Cooling depends on various factors, including the specific requirements of the data center, budget constraints, the desired level of cooling efficiency, and infrastructure complexity. Park Place Technologies can work closely with customers to find the best solution for their business, and can guide them towards the best long-term strategy, while offering short-term results. This takes much of the complexity out of the process, which will enable more businesses to capitalise on this exciting new technology.”

Wisetek Urges Businesses to Prioritise Sustainability in Data Centres Ahead of Data Centre Ireland Conference.

Ahead of the Data Centre Ireland conference, Wisetek (Booth 521) are calling on all businesses to improve their sustainability practices when it comes to data centres.
With data centres expected to consume around 20% of the world’s power supply by 2025 and an estimated 59.4 million tonnes of e-waste in total produced globally in 2022, the environmental impact is significant. The decommissioning of data centres is one of the biggest contributors to e-waste, making it crucial for businesses to be aware of just how their e-waste is handled.

The backbone of our flourishing digital economy is the data centre. Modern data centres are quite resource-intensive, consuming about one per cent of total electricity consumption worldwide, or 205 terawatt-hours. Reducing this figure will require greater efforts in data centre resource management.”
notes Donal Gibson, Head of International Sales at Wisetek

Wisetek offers a comprehensive suite of data centre services, including migration, data centre decommissioning, data destruction, and erasure services. By partnering with Wisetek, businesses can ensure the safe and responsible management of their data centres throughout their lifecycle. Wisetek’s expertise in data sanitisation and IT asset disposition allows for the recycling and reuse of IT assets, minimising e-waste generation.
Speaking on the Circular Economy
On Day 2 of the conference Wisetek’s Global Accounts Director, Gary McCarthy will be one of the speakers on ‘The Growing Circular Economy Within Data Centres’ panel (3:10-3:55, strategy stream, room 1.)

As data centres evolve, their commitment to the circular economy shapes not just their efficiency but our collective responsibility for a greener future. Wisetek are incredibly proud to be a part of this initiative and to help grow sustainability in the industry.
Gary McCarthy, Global Accounts Director, Wisetek

The Importance of Migration, Decommissioning, Data Destruction & Data Erasure

Our decommissioning services provide full ITAD reporting, including certificates of data destruction and inventory reporting whilst endeavouring to minimise the amount of e-waste generated via the recycling and reuse of IT assets wherever possible
Donal Gibson, Head of International Sales at Wisetek

As the demand for data centres continues to grow, businesses must prioritize sustainability to mitigate the environmental impact. By implementing Wisetek’s suite of data centre services, businesses can improve their sustainability practices and contribute to a greener future. Wisetek is committed to helping businesses handle their e-waste responsibly and operate data centres in a sustainable manner.

As Data Centres become increasingly common, the safe handling of large data volumes is of the utmost importance. Wisetek is at the forefront of this exciting field, providing solutions for data sanitisation and data centre hardware lifecycle management. With a track record of continuous innovation in the OEM industry, we are excited to showcase our expertise at the Data Centre Ireland event at the RDS this week.
Donal Gibson, Head of International Sales at Wisetek

Wisetek’s suite of data centre services includes migration, data centre decommissioning, data destruction, and erasure services.

We understand the significance of maintaining the security of your data. Our migration services encompass a comprehensive on-site customer audit, ensuring clients stay informed with real-time portal reports, as well as a complete IT relocation service, covering deinstallation, logistics, packaging, reinstallation, and powering up. For those in the decommissioning phase, we offer a secure range of services, including decabling and deracking. A thorough and efficient IT asset audit is included, featuring inventory reconciliation of retired assets, in addition to the documentation and logging of assets within the inventory tracking system.
Donal Gibson, Head of International Sales at Wisetek

Unused materials are recycled according to Wisetek’s Sustainable EARTH standard, which has received external certification for meeting the R2 Responsible Recycling standard and adhering to global regulations.
The Wisetek Sustainable EARTH Program is designed to provide assurance that all of our processing is done in a full transparent, secure and auditable manner whilst ensuring compliance with the highest global environmental regulatory recycling standards

Our aim with the Wisetek Sustainable EARTH Program is to deliver the assurance that all our operations are conducted transparently, securely, and in a way that can be audited, while also ensuring strict compliance with the highest environmental recycling standards across the globe.
Donal Gibson, Head of International Sales at Wisetek

AWS – Harnessing the power of plants to decarbonise our data centres

In January 2023, Amazon Web Services (AWS) started transitioning to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to power backup generators at its data centre sites in Europe, with sites in Ireland and Sweden among the first to make the switch. Backup generators are used at data centre sites to provide back up power in the very rare instances when the main source of power is interrupted.

HVO is a renewable, biodegradable and non-toxic fuel that can be made from waste cooking oil, or vegetable, plant and residue oils. It can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% over the fuel’s lifecycle when compared with fossil diesel. HVO and other renewable diesels are proven to be more compatible with industrial machinery than biodiesel as they don’t require any modification to the fuel systems and can remain stable even in the coldest winter temperatures. This versatility allows AWS to fill the tanks of its backup generators with HVO without any operational changes and use it across different regions and colder climates.

In the future, AWS aims to use HVO at all its data centre sites across Europe, certified through AWS certification. But for this to happen there has to be an accessible, steady, and sustainable supply of HVO. That’s why AWS is helping to develop a global supply chain, working with local organisations like Certa in Ireland, and is investing in the procurement of HVO that only comes from renewable sources, with raw materials that are traceable to their origins and not derived from sources that would impact highly biodiverse areas.

Andrew Graham, Managing Director of Certa Ireland said: “We’re excited to be working with AWS to help drive their renewable energy transition through the supply of our HVO. At Certa, our mission is to connect our customers with the most progressive energy solutions available, and as a straight drop-in replacement for conventional diesel, our HVO Bio Fuel provides up to 90% reduction in carbon emissions instantly with no generator retrofitting required. We look forward to continuing the energy transition journey alongside AWS.”

Neil Morris, Director of Infrastructure Operations, Northern Europe, at AWS said: “At AWS, we’re committed to and invested in sustainability because it’s a win all around—it’s good for the planet, for business, for our customers, and for our communities. Transitioning to HVO is just one of the many ways we’re improving the sustainability of our data centres, decarbonising our operations, and working towards Amazon’s company-wide goal to meet net-zero carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. By making this commitment to using sustainably-sourced HVO at our data centres sites, we hope to pave the way for other businesses, and help establish a global supply chain that will accelerate change across Europe working in collaboration with other organisations.”

Our commitment to meet net-zero carbon by 2040

The move is a part of Amazon’s commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040—10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement – and as outlined in The Climate Pledge, which the company co-founded in 2019. The Pledge now has over 400 signatories, including Best Buy, IBM, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Siemens, Unilever, Verizon, and Visa. As part of this Pledge, Amazon is on a path to powering its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of its initial 2030 target. Amazon is the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy—a position it’s held since 2020 according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and the company now has 401 projects globally, including 164 wind farms and solar farms, and 237 rooftop solar projects on Amazon facilities.

In addition to transitioning to HVO, Amazon is investing in alternative fuel options to replace diesel and other fossil fuels to further decarbonise its operations. For example, Amazon has signed an agreement with Plug Power to supply green hydrogen for its transportation and building operations starting in 2025. Amazon also continues to transform its transportation network, including electrifying its delivery fleet. It currently has thousands of electric delivery vehicles from Rivian in more than 100 cities and regions in the U.S., thousands of electric vans delivering packages to customers in Europe, and several electric vehicle partnerships in APAC. In addition, the company is investing $2 billion in the development of decarbonising services and solutions through the Climate Pledge Fund.

Learn more about Amazon’s sustainability commitments here.

Next-Generation Dell PowerEdge Servers Dramatically Improve Performance for More Sustainable Data Centres

Dell Technologies announces the next generation of Dell PowerEdge servers with 4th Generation AMD EPYC processors. With their highest application performance to date, these new systems are designed to help customers more effectively power today’s demanding, compute-centric workloads such as data analytics.

Designed for efficiency and security in mind, the new PowerEdge Servers are equipped with Dell’s Smart Cooling technology to help reduce CO2 emissions and a built-in cyber resilient architecture to help reinforce customers’ security efforts.

“Customers demand uncompromised compute performance delivered in the most sustainable manner possible. Our latest PowerEdge servers are purpose built-to meet the needs of today’s demanding workloads with efficiency and resiliency,” said Rajesh Pohani, vice president of portfolio and product management for PowerEdge, HPC and Core Compute at Dell Technologies. “With up to double the performance of the previous generation, combined with the latest in power and cooling innovations, these servers are designed to meet the growing demands of our customers.”

More performance and storage options for the data centre of the future

The next generation of Dell PowerEdge servers with 4th generation AMD EPYC processors provides performance and storage advancements while integrating into existing customer environments. The servers are well-suited for organizations with advanced workloads such as data analytics, AI, high performance computing (HPC) and virtualization.

Available in one- and two-socket configurations, with support for as much as 50% more processor cores compared to the previous generation, the latest systems offer the highest performance to date for AMD-powered PowerEdge servers. Customers can expect up to a 121% performance improvement, up to 33% more front drive count for 2U servers and up to 60% higher front drive count for 1U servers.

  • PowerEdge R7625 offers increased application performance and data storage. With the performance of dual 4th generation AMD EPYC processors, this server is designed to be the backbone of a data centre. This 2-socket, 2U platform has proven to accelerate in-memory databases by over 72% surpassing all other 2- and 4-socket SAP Sales & Distributions submissions, achieving a new world record.
  • PowerEdge R7615 is a one-socket, 2U server with a faster memory bandwidth than previous generations. Improved drive density is designed to complete multiple jobs faster with a smaller data centre footprint. This platform accelerates AI workloads with maximum accelerated expansion capabilities, achieving an AI benchmark world record.4
  • PowerEdge R6625 is a two-socket, 1U server delivering the optimal balance in performance, flexibility and density. The system is suited for HPC workloads or running multiple virtual desktop infrastructure instances.
  • PowerEdge R6615 is a one-socket, 1U server that offers more virtual machine density than previous generations. The thin design offers increased compute power in a dense form factor, limiting data centre footprint expansion without losing performance.

“AMD and Dell Technologies are committed to delivering leadership products that help organizations improve the performance and efficiency of their data centres while also working toward a more sustainable future,” said Ram Peddibhotla, corporate vice president, EPYC product management, AMD. “With the launch of Dell PowerEdge servers, powered by 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors, we continue to break performance records while delivering on the most stringent environmental goals and business outcomes our joint customers demand.” 

For sustainable data centres, less is more

Built with sustainability in mind, the servers offer advancements in Dell Smart Cooling technology that allow for more airflow through the systems than previous generations, keeping them cool while performing at the highest levels for long periods of time.

With greater core density, organizations can replace older, less efficient servers with next generation PowerEdge servers designed to reduce heat generated, energy consumed and the burden on other resources required to power the systems. In particular, the PowerEdge R7625 delivers up to 55% greater processor performance efficiency compared to previous models.

The new servers reinforce Dell’s commitment to source recycled or renewable materials in more than half of Dell product content by 2030. In addition, when shipping multiple servers at once with Dell’s multipack option, these servers are delivered more sustainably, reducing the number of boxes and materials it takes to ship the systems.

“Like many, we follow the CPU market carefully and look forward to seeing the next generation PowerEdge servers accelerate our potential,” said Dr. Matthew Storey, head of Storage and Virtualization at Lancaster University. “The new servers help address our ever-growing needs for more innovative and powerful solutions and put us on the leading edge of our industry while delivering a state-of-the-art research environment to our users.”

Building modern, scalable and more secure IT

 As cybersecurity threats evolve, so have the built-in security features in PowerEdge servers. Anchored with Dell’s cyber resilient architecture, the servers include features like system lockdown, drift detection and multifactor authentication. The next-generation systems enable a more secure operation with end-to-end boot resilience, helping to establish a data centre with safety at its core.

With a dedicated, fully integrated on-die security processor, the 4th generation AMD EPYC processors help enable innovative technologies like confidential computing. In addition, AMD’s “Security by Design” approach includes an embedded security subsystem to help protect data and expand on the AMD Infinity Guard security feature set, continuing to add layers for both physical and virtual security.

Coupled with Dell iDRAC, these servers record details of the server hardware and firmware build at the time of manufacturing. Using Dell’s Secured Component Verification (SCV) supply chain assurance, organizations can verify the PowerEdge server arrived as ordered and built from the factory.

“Continued innovation in server performance is critical to ensuring companies have the tools they need to address an increasingly data-centric and real-time world,” said Kuba Stolarski, vice president within IDC’s enterprise infrastructure practice. “With advanced security features designed directly into the platform, Dell’s new PowerEdge servers can help organizations keep pace with data proliferation in a growing threat environment. The improvements in performance can enable customers to implement AI, HPC and other modern workloads to extract the most value from their data and IT investment.”

Availability

  • The Dell PowerEdge R7625 server is available globally in limited configurations in November 2022. The next generation servers have planned full global availability in February 2023.